Time-lock.



0. P. MIBTH.

TIME LOOK.

APPLICATION rILIin MAR. 10. 1010.

Patented Dec. 13,1910.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

0. F. MIETH.

TIME LOCK.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 10, 1910. 978,325. Patented Dec. 13, 1910.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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TIME LOOK. I APPLICATION FILED MAR. 10, 1010.

Patented Dec. 13,1910.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

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@w' @3 MAX wwa UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OTTO F. MIETH, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-FOURTH TO JOSEPH E.HAUS- FELD AND ONE-FOURTH TO VICTOR E. TRESISE, 0F CINCINNATI, OHIO.

TIME-LOCK.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, O'r'ro F. Min'rn, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of the city of Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton andState of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inTime-Locks, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming apart of this specification.

Time lock devices designed to mechanically release the locking bar orbolt of a safe at a predetermined time, in order to permit the bolt tobe thrown and the safe to be opened have long been in use. In suchconstructions, the clock movement is ordinarily connected with somereleasing bar or lever which is gradually pushed or pulled as themechanism operates thereon until the releasing point is reached. Thetravel of the releasing lever when thus directly under the control ofthe clock movement must necessarily be slow, so that several hourselapse from the commencement of the action until the tripping takesplace, and as the tripping mechanism approaches the point of release,the safe is necessarily insecurely locked and liable to be released byjarring or otherwise before the proper time.

Moreover, the connection between the locle' ing bolts, tripping bar,time lock case and safe is necessarily rigid, so that a considerabletime before the hour set the jarring of the safe is liable to throw thelocking devices. In addition to this, the clock movement for a number ofhours is directly engaged in slowly shifting the releasing device andtherefore during this time is under constant strain and very liable tostoppage in the event of any undue friction to be over come in theactuation of the releasing mech-' anism. It is to overcome thesedifficulties and other disadvantages which will be hereinafter mentionedin connection with the description of my improvements, that .myinvention is directed.

The invention consists in one important feature in the substitution forthe ordinary direct connection between the clock movement and thetripping lever and. the pulling bar, of a tripping slide or deviceentirely disconnected and independent from the pulling lever until themoment of tripping, and in the substitution of a tripping deviceactuated momentarily at the exact time set,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 10, 1910.

Patented Dec. 13, 1910.

Serial No. 548,337.

whereby the safe is securely and completely locked until the moment oftripping, inasmuch as the pulling or releasing bar is not actuated atall until the device is tripped at the proper time. By thus removing thestrain of the clock movement from the actuation of the pulling bar, I amenabled to incorporate many other improvements in the constructions tobe hereinafter more particularly pointed out and claimed, among whichmay be mentioned the substitution of a worm and worm gear connectionintermediate the main spring and the clock movement which enables me toprovide a much more powerful driving spring than has heretofore beenpracticable without overtaxing the delicate clock or watch movement orstraining any of its parts.

In the drawings,-Figure l is a plan view of the time locking mechanismwith the door of the case open. Fig. 2 is a plan view of one of themovement blocks or time lock receptacles with the watch movement andoperating mechanism removed. Fig. 3 is an elevation of the movementblock shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 4: is an enlarged view of the worm geartransmission. Fig. 5 is an enlarged plan view of one of the movementblocks or time lock receptacles with the clock movement removed and thedial and cover also removed from the releasing mechanism. Fig. (3 acentral vertical section taken on the line (3, (3, of Fig. 5. Fig. 7 isa plan view of the clutch for the main arbor. Fig. 8 is a plan view ofthe ratchet and clutch lever of the main arbor. Fig. 9 is a sideelevation of the releasing device for the locking hook. Fig. 10 is aplan view of the same. Fig. 11 is a. perspective view of the sliding barof the releasing device. Fig. 12 is a side elevation of the releasingdevice as illustrated in Fig. 5.), with the sliding bar removed. Fig. 13is a plan view of a modified form of unlocking mechanism. Fig. 14 is aside elevation of the same with casing in vertical position.

1 is the time lock casing, usually of metal, to form a suitable box forthe reception of the time lock mechanism and releasing devices.

2 is the usual cover or lid for the casing hinged thereto at 3, 3.

Mounted in the casing are a series of movement blocks or time lockreceptacles 4, 5, each of which contains means for tripping thereleasing bar of the mechanism, each controlled by a separate clock orwatch movement. A number of these movements are usually provided, eachcomplete in itself for acting on the boltlocking devices, so that in theevent that one or more of the movements should be stopped, the othersshall be able to complete the operation. Each of these movement blocksor receptacles is itself mounted in a suitable recess in a block orframe 6, the receptacles being held securely in a fixed position and inan unchanging relation to each other by means of screws 7, T. The blockor frame 6 with the movement blocks fixed therein is itself securelymounted in the casing by means of screws 8, 8, and these screws areusually provided with coiled springs so attached that the frame 6 willbe held in a floating position to avoid as much as possible the damagedue to jars of the main casing. This general construction of the maincasing with the spring support block carrying the separate andindependent movement blocks is the ordinary and usual. construction, andforms no part of my present invention.

As both of the time locking mechanisms as contained in the movementblocks are identical in construction, the description of one will answerfor both, and in the drawings I have only illustrated one of thesemovements. It will be understood that as many of these independent clockmovements as desired may be furnished, each of which contains in itselfthe mechanism for shift 11 in the other half of the movement block istwice the depth of the watch movement recess, and is divided by acentral partition plate 13 into an upper and a lower compartment.Mounted centrally in this compartment is the main arbor 14, upon whichis mounted the main spring 15 of the movement. This main spring issecured at one end to the arbor and at the other to the casing, and byreason of the construction to be hereinafter described, I am able toprovide a much more powerful main spring than would be practicable forthe delicate watch movement mounted in the receptacle 10.

Mounted loosely on the arbor 1 1 and resting upon a shoulder on thearbor keeping it free from the partition plate 13 to avoid friction isthe worm gear 16 and this worm gear carries the ratchet 17 which is alsoloosely mounted on the arbor, the ratchet being connected with the wormgear by the spring pawls 18, 18, mounted on the worm gear and held inengagement with the teeth of the ratchet by the springs 19, 19. Theupper end of the arbor is squared, and mounted 011 this squared portionso as to rotate therewith is the clutch collar 20, which rests on theratchet 17. 21 is a square notch in the periphery of this clutch collar20, which notch is engaged by the hook 22 on the clutch lever 23, whichis pivotally mounted by the screw 24 on the ratchet 17 and held inengagement normally with the clutch by the spring 25, secured at 26 onthe ratchet.

Mounted in the casing 9, as illustrated in Fig. 2, is the connectingshaft 27, which carries on one end the worm 28 meshing with the wormgear 16, and which carries on the other end the crown wheel 29, or anyother gear suitable for the purpose, which meshes with a pinion orescapement mechanism of the watch movement.

I have not illustrated any part of the watch movement which, as I havestated, is of the accurate and delicate construction of such watchmovements, and which is intended to drive through the medium of the wormshaft and worm the releasing mechanism of the time look. It will beunderstood, of course, that the main spring of the watch movement isremoved, and that the main spring 15 forms the main spring for the watchmechanism.

Mounted over the clutch mechanism on the main arbor 14 is the coverplate 30 which is secured to the movement block by the screws 31, andmounted above the cover plate on the main arbor and secured to rotatetherewith is the dial plate 32, graduated on its upper surface toindicate the hours, and 33 is the pointer secured to the cover plate.The dial plate is formed with gear teeth 34, and meshes with the pinion35 mounted on the winding arbor 36. By turning the winding arbor 36 inthe proper direction with a key, the main spring of the clock movementis wound up and the number of hours fixed for the main spring to unwindunder control of the watch movement. in the usual way.

Heretofore it has been customary to provide some such construction asheretofore described, and the movement of the mechanism under the actionof the main spring has been brought to bear upon a releasing bar or somereleasing device'to gradually move the bar to trip the unlockingmechanism. Two such constructions of unlocking or releasing devices Ihave illustrated in Figs. 9 to 14. These devices are usually mounted inthe casing in much the same way that the ordinary lock for a door is incased, and the devices are arranged so as to be actuated by the timelock movement, and usually will be at one end of the time lock casing.Mounted to slide on theside plate 37 of this unlocking device is theslide bar 38. This slide bar is provided with holes 39, 39, at the endswhich are ongaged by the studs 40, 40, on the levers 41, 41, pivoted at42, 42, near the bottom of the casing plate. The upper ends 43, 43, ofthese levers 41, 41, project through slots in the top plate 44 above theplate, so that by pushing on either of the ends 43, 43, the slide plate38 is shifted from right to left. Pivoted at 46 on the.ca-sing to swinghorizontally and extend out through a cut-out portion of the slide baris a hook 45 which forms the releasing hook for the safe bolts. Thishook is provided with side arms 47, 48, which are recessed in front, soas to engage the inwardly projecting lugs 49, 50, of the slide plate,and as the slide plate is shifted, the hook will be rocked on its pivot46 to release the safe bolts. The slide bar 38 is normally heldspring-pressed to the right by the pin 51 seated in a socket in thecase, and held in engagement with one of the levers 41 by the coiledspring 53 mounted in the socket and bearing on the pin.

It will'be understood from the foregoing description that by pushingover either of the ends 43 of the levers 41, the slide bar will beshifted to rock the hook 45 and to release the safe bolt. I have showntwo levers for shifting the slide bar, one of which is provided for eachof the'time lock movements, but it will of course be understood thatwhen an additional number of time lock movements are provided foradditional safety, additional lugs or levers are provided for shiftingthe slide bar, so that any one of the time movements can shift the barto re lease the hook.

In some cases, instead of providing a hook to release the safe bolts, itis desired to employ an unlocking device which will itself throw thesafe bolts. Such a construction I have illustrated in Figs. 13 and 14.Iivoted at 55 in the bottom of the case and extend ing out through aslot in the case is the lock lever 56. The lock holding and releasingdevices for the lever 56 are mounted on the plate 57 of the lock casing,and 58 is the slide bar corresponding to the slide bar 38 of the hookreleasing devices. This slide bar 58 is held in position and guided bythe screws 59, 59, attached to the casing, which engage the slots 60,60, of the slide bar. The slide bar is normally held under springpressure by the pin 61 mounted in the socket ($2 in the case and held inengagement with the lug 63 on the slide bar by the coiled spring 64. 65is a notch in the edge of the slide bar which is engagedby the head (56of the rock lever 67 pivoted'at 68,to the casii'ig. The end 69 of thisrock lever engages the head 70 of the latch 71, pivoted at 72 to thecasing, and the edge of the lock lever 56 is caught behind the head ofthe latch and normally held against the pressure of the somewhatpowerful coiled springs 73, 73, which are mounted in a recess in thelever and are compressed between the lever and the block 74 secured tothe bottom of the casing. The latch 71 is pivoted so that when the levcr56 is caught behind the head of the latch, as shown in l ig. 14, theradial axis of the latch will not be parallel to the plane of themovement of the lever 56, and except as held by the end 69 of the rocklever 67, the movement of the lever would swing the latch on its pivotto release the lever. As the slide bar is shifted against the springpressure, the rock lever 67 will be rocked to shift the end (39 awayfrom the head 70 of the latch, and the pull of the lever 56 under thetension of the springs 73 will actuate the latch and release the leverand allow it to throw the safe bolts. The slide bar 58 returned to itsnormal position by the spring-pressed pin 61 bearing on the lug (33, andthe lock lever is returned to its locking position by the arm 74 on thewinding arbor 75 which bears against the stud 7 6 on the lever. Theslide bar 58, as in the case of the slide bar 38, is provided with lugs77, 77, in the pathway of the actuating devices of the time movement, sothat either of the time movements can shift the slide bar to release thelock lever.

Having now described the two constructions of unlocking devicesillustrated in the drawings, Figs. 9 to 14, both of which are providedwith a slide bar to be actuated by the time lock movements, I will nowreturn to the description of the time lock movement and describe thenovel features of my construction, under which the slide bar is notactuated at all until the moment for releasing arrives.

I-Ieretofore, so far as I am aware. it has been customary to provideconstructions in which for some hours before the time designated thetime lock movement. is slowly shifting the slide bar to release the hookor lock lever as heretofore described, and as has been stated, for aconsiderable period of time before the release, the movement of theslide bar will have been brought so close to the tripping position, thatwith the ordinary constructions, jarring on the movement is apt to tripthe device.

Loosely mounted on the winding arbor 36 of each of the movement blocksis a releasing lever 78, the outer end of which 79 stands in the pathwayof the actuating devices on the slide bar of the unlocking mechanism.The inner arm 80 of this lever lies in the pathway of the stud 81projecting upwardly from the arm 82 on the clutch collar 20, so thatupon the release of the clutch collar as hereinafter described, the stud81 will come in contact with the arm 80 of the lever 78 to shift theslide bar of the unlockdisconnected from the time lock mechanism.

In order to release the clutch collar 20, I

provide as follows: The clutch lever 23 is provided with an extension83, which lies in the pathway of the beveled lug Set on the casing. Nowas the main spring of the movement under the control of the watchmovement slowly unwinds, the clutch collar carries the clutch lever intoengagement with the lug 84, and the clutch lever is finally, as itreaches the top of the lug, released from the notch in the clutchcollar. As it is through the medium of the clutch lever that the ratchetand worm gear and watch movement are connected with the main arbor andmain spring, the moment the clutch lever is released, the watch movementis entirely disconnected from the main arbor and spring, and the fullforce of the main spring instantly rotates the clutch collar 20,bringing the stud 81 into contact with the releasing lever 78, and thereleasing devices are tripped and the safe bolts released.

The operation of my improved time lock construction will be evident fromthe foregoing description.

By reason of the fact that the watch movement has no work to do inshifting the slide bar of the unlocking mechanism, I am able to providea very powerful main spring for the movement and to connect the arbor ofthe main spring by means of the worm and worm gear mechanism with thedelicate watch movement. As the worm and worm gear is one of the mostpowerful means of transmitting power, it is also a very powerful meansof retaining such power. Inthe ordinary constructions of time lock movements, inasmuch as the watch movement has to perform work of moving thereleasing power and its connecting parts, it is necessary to providegear and pinion connections between the watch movement and the actuatingmechanism, and therefore it is not possible to provide a main drivingspring of too much power without liability of exerting too much pressureon the delicate watch movement. With my construction, however, inasmuchas the only work required to be accomplished by the watch movement is torelease the clutch lever from the clutch collar, a worm and gearconstruction can be interposed between the driving main spring and thewatch movement. It will also be evident that inasmuch as the moment theclutch collar is released from the clutch lever of the ratchet wheel,the watch movement will be entirely disconnected, and the full entireforce of the main spring will be employed in shifting the releasinglever to actuate the unlocking mechanism. I am thus able to take all thepower of the driving spring from the movement and cause it to act on theslide bar, and I am able to concentrate all of my driving power at thetripping point, and I am not dependent for tripping on the running ofthe watch movement at all. This makes it almost impossible that thereshould be any lock-out, no matter how tightly the parts may be connectedor how much unexpected friction may develop. It will also, be noticedthat the connection between the arms of the hook 443 and the lugs of theslide plate 38 in the bolt releasing mechanism is loose so that theslide bar can be subjected to jars and may have considerable playwithout in any way disturbing the hook member. The same ad vantage isobtained in the other construc tion of bolt releasing mechanism, in thatthe notch in the slide bar is wider than the head of the engaging lever,so that there is considerable looseness of fit.

What I claim as new, and of my invention and desire to secure by LettersPatent, is

1. In a time lock, in combination with the bolt releasing mechanism,awatch movement with driving means separate therefrom, worm gearintermediate the watch movement and driving means, and a clutch devicecoupling the worm gear to the driving means, with means for releasingthe clutch at predetermined times to transfer the driving action to thebolt releasing mechanism.

2. In a time lock, in combination with a bolt releasing mechanism, awatch movement with driving means separate therefrom, worm gearingintermediate the watch movement and the driving means, with directconnection therefor with the watch movement, and a clutch devicecoupling the worm gear to the driving means, with means for releasingthe clutch at predetermined times to transfer the/driving action to thebolt releasing mechanism.

3. In a time lock, in combination with a bolt releasing mechanism, awatch movement with driving means separate therefrom, wormgearingintermediate the watch movement and driving means, and a clutchdevice coupling the worm gear to the driving means, with meansfor-releasing the clutch, under the action of the driving means, atpredetermined times to transfer the driving action to the bolt releasingmechanism.

4. In a time lock, in combination with a bolt releasing mechanism, awatch movement with driving means separate therefrom, worm gearingintermediate the watch movement and driving means, with directconnection therefor with the watch movement, and a clutch devicecoupling the worm gear to the driving means, with means for releasingthe clutch, under the action of the driving means, at predeterminedtimes to transfer the driving action to the bolt releasing mechanism.

5. In a time lock, in combination with bolt releasing mechanism, a watchmovement with driving means separate there from, and gearing connectingthe same with the watch movement, a clutch device interposed between thedriving means and watch movement, with means for releasing the clutch atpredetermined times with means to transfer the driving action from theatch movement to the bolt releasing mechanism.

(i. In a time lock, in combination with bolt releasing mechanism, awatch movement with driving means separate therefrom, and gearingconnecting the same with the watch movement, a clutch device interposedbetween the driving means and watch moven'ient, with means for releasingthe clutch, under the action of the driving means at predetermined timeswith means to transfer the driving action from the watch movement to thebolt releasing mechanism.

7 In a time lock, the combination with a bolt releasing bar and a leverfor actuating said bar normally inactive, a watch movement, with drivingmeans separate therefrom, gearing connect-ing the same with the watchmovement, and a clutch device interposed between the driving means andthe watch movement, one member of which isconnected with the drivingmeans, and means for releasing the clutch from the watch movement withmeans to propel said clutch member against said lever to actuate thebolt releasing bar.

8. In a time lock, the combination with a bolt relei sing bar and alever for actuating the said bar normally inactive, a vateh movement,with driving means separate therefrom, gearing connecting the same withthe watch movement, and a clutch device interposed between the drivingmeans and the watch movement, one member of which is permanentlyconnected with the driving means, and means for propelling the clutchunder action of the driving means to propel said clutch member againstsaid lever to actuate the bolt releasing bar.

9. In a time lock, in combination with a bolt releasing bar, and a leverfor actuating said bar normally inactive, a watch movement with drivingmeans separate therefrom, worm gear intermediate the watch movement anddriving means, and a clutch device coupling the worm gear to the drivingmeans, with means for releasing the clutch at predetermined times totransfer the driving action to the normally inactive lever.

10. In a time lock, in combination with a bolt releasing bar and a leverfor actuating said bar normally inactive, a watch movement with drivingmeans separate there from, worm gearing intermediate the watch movementand the driving means, with direct connection therefor with the watchmovement, and a clutch device coupling the worm gear to the drivingmeans, with means for releasing the clutch at predetermined times totransfer the driving action to the normally inactive lever.

11. In a time lock, in combination with a bolt releasing bar, and alever for actuating said bar normally inactive, a watch movement withdriving means separate therefrom, worm gearing intermediate the watchmovement and driving means, and a clutch device coupling the worm gearto the driving means, with means for releasing the clutch, under theaction of the driving means, at predetermined times to transfer thedriving action to the normally inactive lever.

12. In a time lock, in combination with a bolt releasing bar and a leverfor actuating said bar normally inactive, a watch movement with drivingmeans separate therefrom, worm gearing intermediate the watch movementand driving means, with direct connection therefor with the watchmovement, and a clutch device coupling the worm gear to the drivingmeans, with means for releasing the clutch, under the action of thedriving means, at predetermined times to transfer the driving action tothe normally inactive lever.

13. In a time lock, in combination with a bolt releasing bar, and alever for actuating said bar normally inactive, a watch movement witharbor and main spring separate therefrom, gearing connecting the mainspring with the watch movement, a clutch device interposed in said trainof gearing intermediate the main spring and watch moven'icnt, one membersecured to said main spring arbor and the other member secured to thewatch movement gear, means for releasing said clutch to propel the mainspring clutch member against said lever to actuate the bolt releasingbar.

14. In a time lock, in combination with a bolt releasing bar and a leverfor actuating said bar normally inactive, a watch movement with arborand main spring separate therefrom. gearing connecting the main springwith the watch movement, a clutch device interposed in said train ofgearing intermediate the main spring and watch movement, one membersecured to said main spring arbor and the other member secured to thewatch movement gear, means for releasing said clutch under the action ofthe main spring to propel the main spring clutch member against saidlever to actuate the bolt releasing bar.

15. In a time look, a bolt releasing bar and a lever for actuating saidbar normally inactive, a watch movement with arbor and bolt member, alever engaging the hoo-k to hold the same in engagement With the bolt 15member, there being a loose fitting connection for the lever with theslide bar, and a Watch movement with means to actuate the sllde bar,whereby the slide bar may be subjeeted to jars Without disturbing thebolt 20 engaging member.

OTTO F. HIETH.

Attest MARSTON ALLEN, K. SMITH.

